While the study found the difference in lifetime earnings between male and female physicians was about $2 million overall, surgical specialists had an even bigger gap than the average, at $2.5 million.
The study evaluated earnings data from 80,342 full-time physicians to estimate career differences in income between men and women. Over the course of a 40-year career, male physicians earned an average adjusted gross income of $8,307,327 compared with an average of $6,263,446 for female physicians — a difference of about 25 percent.
Nonsurgical specialists had a $1.6 million gap, and primary care physicians had a $900,000 gap, the study said.
Gross income averages were calculated after adjusting for factors such as hours worked, clinical revenue, practice type and specialty.
